2009-02-25, 05:19 PM
From my list of gripes earlier in the thread, I thought I would post again and revise or extend the remarks as necessary.
The PCH has the ability to play movies stored on a shared directory though the network amd directly to your local television, or play them through the remote computer and GBPVR onto your local television. I very much prefer the video feeds from the network shared drive. Watching anything through the GBPVR connection to PCH results in degraded audio and video.
In a related issue, the ability to control the video is more clunky through the GBPVR/PCH route. If the PCH/GBPVR connection could handle the PCH remote in a similar fashion as GBPVR handles the Hauppauge remote connected to a local computer, then I could feel that the control over the play of the video is quite nice. Of course, this may be dependent on keeping up with updates, which I know at one time were coming out at a fierce rate.
So after having tried the PCH route. I think I want to try the route where I connect a separate computer near my television and use GBPVR to stream to that location. It too probably has its drawbacks.
cc1091 Wrote:1. Sound quality is terrible. Yes, it is stereo or 5.1 when available, but the audio range can't be 20hz to 20Khz. There is no impact to the audio, as if it is so compressed that even good sources sound like they're playing from a cheap mono radio (even when all channels are present and working in stereo/5.1).An inexpensive optical out cable from the place on the web that is named after a river in South America really improved the sound, so it could be that the connecting RCA cable had something to do with the poor sound. Still, what I am hearing is not quite audiophile sound, even with good source material. BUT, it is quite acceptable now.
' Wrote:2. Newer firmware seems to be more susceptible to dropping network feeds from internet related sites.I still have many instances where if I leave the unit or the computer sit for a while before I attempt to view anything through the PCH connection, I either need to restart the PCH or restart my computer (usually both). I'd bet this is a function of the network's isolation from the outside web. I wonder if a new router would solve some of this?
' Wrote:3. PCH A-110 seems to be often affected by static electricity. Perhaps this is inadequate grounding of the unit? Obviously could have negative effect on any hard drive installed in the unit (I do not have one).There's still a constant problem with static electricity. I'm certain this could have some affect like the complaint in item #2. Living in the north during the dry winter months tends to easily affect many poorly grounded items negatively. This is not really an unusual occurrence, but some units (audio especially) are better able to isolate the case from the electronics inside. I don't like the part where when I reach to touch the PCH and the shock that is exchanged between my finger and the PCH causes the feed to the television to go blank and loose audio. All is fine after a system restart. Still, I've learned to touch my amplifier first, before attempting to touch the PCH.
' Wrote:4. Considerably more difficult to set up with GBPVR than I had anticipated. Perhaps I will add more once I actually do have it working with GBPVR (three days now and still no GBPVR connectivity, though today is the first weekend I've had).I think I had PCh set up and working with GBPVR a day after I wrote this. Once again (that is, just like every other part of this wiki), the procedures in the wiki tend to speak in generalities. Revisions to the procedures are implemented, but older misleading information is not completely scrubbed from the lines above. I wish I remembered exactly what the A-HA moment was all about, but I know that I made an assumption that a paragraph lower in the wiki was a little more current, than the seemingly conflicting information paragraphs above.
' Wrote:5. Video quality - I suppose this is very dependent on the source. Movies from a remote hard drive aren't too bad, but still not like feeding them directly into the system from a local computer. Colors are not as vibrant. Oddly, digital copies of 60s television shows look very nice. More complex video seems to not translate well through PCH.Perhaps I need to expand on this to make it more concise.
The PCH has the ability to play movies stored on a shared directory though the network amd directly to your local television, or play them through the remote computer and GBPVR onto your local television. I very much prefer the video feeds from the network shared drive. Watching anything through the GBPVR connection to PCH results in degraded audio and video.
In a related issue, the ability to control the video is more clunky through the GBPVR/PCH route. If the PCH/GBPVR connection could handle the PCH remote in a similar fashion as GBPVR handles the Hauppauge remote connected to a local computer, then I could feel that the control over the play of the video is quite nice. Of course, this may be dependent on keeping up with updates, which I know at one time were coming out at a fierce rate.
So after having tried the PCH route. I think I want to try the route where I connect a separate computer near my television and use GBPVR to stream to that location. It too probably has its drawbacks.
